America then and now

I have organized a recommended reading list of cultural history/criticism/history about America in the 20th and 21st century – roughly in order of publishing. Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day is a good amount of time to peruse ten books that will leave you with a greater sense of why the world around you is so twisted.

1995:

“Hotel America: Scenes in the Lobby of the Fin de Siecle (Theory, Culture and Society)” – Lewis Lapham

1999:

“The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy” – Nicholas Lemann

2000:

“Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” by David Brooks

2001:

“The Last Empire” – Gore Vidal

2010:

“A Renegade History of the United States” by Thaddeus Russell

2012:

“Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America” by Gustavo Arellano

2014:

“Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals” by John LeFevre